Hydraulics
by Lady Cosmic Brownie
Summary: Dawn Caller wakes up near Ponyville, primary feathers stripped, cold and alone. Her prosthetic hooves creak and are stiff. As she learns how to cope with normal everyday life again, the Mane Six attempt to pry her story straight from her. Dawn Caller won't have any of it. She'll not have any of these good ponies end up in the horror shop she once lived in.


**Well, hello there, happy sunshine bunnies! *insert dorkface here* Well, this is my very first MLP fanfiction, though certainly not my first piece of fanficion, oh no. I'm happy to be part of this... interesting fandom, and excited to see where this story will take me! If any of my writing seems wonky or anything, do excuse me. I haven't written fanfiction in almost a year! A whole _year_. That's a long time.**

-O-

It's cold. This is the first thing she registers when she regains awareness of her surroundings. She snorts, lifting heavy eyelids.

High above her, stars twinkle, distant and frigid. Her hooves ache painfully, and the metal creaks as she carefully sits up. A few of her wires catch, and one of the electrical pulse sensors pulls away from her skin. Instantly, she collapses upon her face, her front right hoof numb.

_Ouch, ouch, ouch, ow ow...  
_  
Carefully, she stumbles back upright, holding her foreleg up over the rough gravel. Her face stings angrily and she scowls.

Every joint in her body aches when she limps forward, a heavy creaking sound coming from her hind legs. Pain throbs through her wings, pulsing with the beat of her heart, slowing and speeding up with each inhale and exhale.

A brisk wind picks up, pulling at the bedraggled mare's mane and tail, whipping her loose wire about. She flattens her ears, and sloughs onward.

She tilts her head to the night sky. Clouds are rolling steadily in, covering the stars. The lilac mare squints. Wait... the clouds... weren't moving on their own!

She lifts her wings futilely and flaps against the wind, attempting to gain lift. She knows her primaries have been yanked out, her wings feel awkwardly light without them. Yet, she mills them strongly until they blur. The prickly feeling of gathering static makes her head spin.

The wind picks up, nearly yanking the battered mare from her hooves. She steels against it, struggling to keep her hydraulics from pushing her spikes into the ground. As if by a miracle, her lame hoof manages to stay somewhat upright.

The electricity courses in her wings, jumping from each of her feathers in tiny arks.

_I hope this... I hope this'll be bright enough..._

-O-

"Hey, Rainbow! What's that over there!"

The sky blue pegasi glances down at the general direction one of the weather ponies was pointing. Not a moment after her eyes made contact, the light flickered out.

"Rogue lightning?" somepony calls from a higher air current.

"I thought we were doing a rain storm!"

"We are," Rainbow Dash mutters, feeling a prick of irritation. She flicks her ears as the first few drops start to fall from the sky. She swishes her tail and angles her wings downward, moving into a tight spiral.

She cuts through the air easily, her steep dive aided by the pull of gravity. The ground soon rushes up to meet her, and she flares her blue wings sharply, bringing her descent to a soft landing.

The mare's purple eyes scan the landscape. It's a barren place, really, mostly gravel and dust, a few sparse chunks of hardy grass clinging to life here and there.

Her gaze lands on a bright shape. It stands out against the landscape like a beacon. The rain that is now falling gently patters against the limp pony, dampening her coat. Little arcs of electricity jump over her body.

"What in Celestia's name..." Rainbow Dash murmurs, creeping closer. At this distance, she can see the mare's wings. The primaries have been stripped, and messily at that, a few broken shafts stick out from the rumpled feathers.

Her eyes wander to the mare's face, and her ears flick forward in dumbfounded surprise. "Huh. Would you look at what the clouds dragged in..." she says softly.

-O-


End file.
